Staff Instrumentation & Controls Engineer – Nuclear
About The Position
Valar Atomics is hiring a Staff Instrumentation & Controls Engineer to serve as a senior technical authority for nuclear instrumentation and controls systems, focusing on neutron detection, detector signal-processing electronics, and radiation-monitoring equipment. The role supports reactor design, test operations, and safety-significant monitoring systems, ensuring compliance with nuclear industry codes and standards. It leads design, system integration, vendor oversight, safety evaluations, and commissioning for reactor protection and radiation-monitoring systems. The position is part of the Engineering organization’s Instrumentation & Controls team, which designs systems to monitor, automate, and protect Valar’s facilities and reactor technologies. The role involves close collaboration with reactor physics, thermal-hydraulics, electrical engineering, and operations teams, as well as mentoring junior engineers and interfacing with vendors, laboratories, and regulatory bodies.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in Nuclear Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Physics, or a related discipline.
- At least 8 years of experience in nuclear I&C, radiation detection, reactor protection, or related areas.
- Hands-on experience with neutron detectors, including fission chambers and B-10 proportional counters.
- Hands-on experience with signal-processing electronics, including wide-range and source-range channels.
- Hands-on experience with area/process radiation monitors and environmental-monitoring instrumentation.
- Strong understanding of nuclear standards, including IEEE 603 and ANSI/ANS-specific radiation-monitoring standards.
- Experience with safety classification, SIL analysis, FMEA, and hazard analysis.
- Ability to lead technical projects and cross-functional engineering efforts.
- Legally authorized to work in the United States as a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident.
Nice To Haves
- Master’s degree or Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering or a related field.
- Experience with HTGR, sodium-cooled, or research reactor designs.
- Experience with data-acquisition systems, digital I&C platforms, and PLCs such as Allen-Bradley.
- Familiarity with radiation-transport modeling and detector-response simulations.
- Experience with environmental qualification per IEEE 323 and seismic qualification per IEEE 344.
- Prior regulatory engagement with organizations such as NRC, DOE, INL, or ORNL.
- Experience writing safety-basis documents, technical reports, or licensing submittals.
Responsibilities
- Lead the design, specification, selection, and integration of neutron detectors, including fission chambers and boron-lined detectors, and associated signal-conditioning electronics.
- Design and validate area, process, stack, and coolant-activity radiation-monitoring systems.
- Oversee detector placement, shielding design, and response characterization for in-core and ex-core detectors.
- Perform calibration strategies and uncertainty analyses for neutron-flux power-range, intermediate-range, and startup-range instrumentation.
- Develop and maintain I&C architectures for safety-related and non-safety systems in accordance with applicable standards and guidance.
- Produce and review control logic, loop diagrams, instrument datasheets, architecture drawings, control narratives, and functional requirement specifications.
- Execute I&C system modeling, failure-modes analysis, response-time calculations, and SIL/Category/Level classification.
- Design interfaces to PLCs, safety-significant controllers, distributed I/O, and high-reliability digital platforms.
- Guide system integration with reactor-protection and radiation-monitoring systems.
- Lead factory and site acceptance tests, environmental qualification, and seismic qualification for sensitive instrumentation.
- Develop calibration, maintenance, and surveillance procedures for neutron and radiation detectors.
- Support performance testing, flux mapping, channel-operability checks, trip-setpoint verification, and acceptance-criteria development.
- Ensure system designs adhere to nuclear regulatory requirements and applicable standards.
- Prepare and review technical documentation for licensing, safety-basis, and hazard-analysis activities.
- Participate in I&C-related inputs and support for deterministic safety analyses.
- Mentor junior engineers and provide technical guidance across interdisciplinary teams.
- Collaborate with reactor physics, thermal-hydraulics, electrical engineering, and operations teams to meet program requirements.
- Interface with vendors, laboratories, and regulatory bodies on detector procurement, radiation-monitoring equipment, and safety systems.
Benefits
- Competitive base salary.
- Equity ownership in a rapidly growing advanced energy company.
- Comprehensive medical benefits.
- Unlimited PTO.
- Free daily lunch and dinner provided onsite.
- Generous PPE stipend.
- High-impact startup environment with significant ownership and autonomy.
- Opportunities for rapid career growth and internal advancement.
- Direct collaboration with experienced operators, engineers, and industry leaders.
- Opportunity to help build and scale transformative energy technology from the ground up.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
